Shocking Confession

If we haven't shared a cocktail together in our tennis outfits, then you might not know this story.   Everyone here in the ladies tennis community in Cary knows, I'm a little competitive on the tennis courts (that may be the understatement of the year); but what they might not know is I played High School tennis for 4 years; singles and doubles and never (seriously) won a tennis match.  My mom can vouch for this as I think she witnessed and suffered through most of the 4 years (I may have banned her from a couple thinking it was possibly her fault).  No, I didn't go to a sports therapists.  I did hang up my racket from 1981 until 1991.  But now it's the start of the 2011 USTA Spring Season; I'm psyched and I would guess I might be one person you don't want to see in a 3rd set tiebreaker; I'm not going to lose; you're going to have to beat me.

I have to say, I haven't read a book about why people are chokers in a long time, but this article recently provided some answers http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98150&page=1.  I would guess, I had a lot of performance anxiety.  I was trying so hard and knew I had the skills, but couldn't put it all together on the courts.  I can still actually remember how my arm felt (numb and tingly) like it was it's own entity; something that I had no control over (sort of an out of body experience).  I worked my way through it when I returned to competitive tennis matches in my mid 30's; it took a year or two of deep breaths, winning a few matches and just embracing what winning felt like (let's just say good). There's definitely something to be said for maturing and life experiences that give you the confidence to get back out there and figure out what to do to have fun and play to the best of your abilities win or lose. 

As much mental fortitude and positive energy as it's taken to get my tennis game back over the years, I'm applying to my "Spring Training".   I have a lot of energy.  To avoid tightness in a match, I go for a little run.  This may sound a little overboard, but it loosens me up and makes me a little tired which is good because I then have to be a little conservative/smarter on the court.  I also have embraced a tennis professionals advice, "get in shape to play tennis, don't play tennis to get into shape".  Figure out what you need to do to play your best today no matter what fun activity you choose to do; join me....